Friday, September 10, 2010

Why Incumbents Lose, Part Five

Most incumbents lose because of themselves, but a few have the bad luck to face great challengers. Let’s look at the upstarts more closely.Every challenger thinks he or she is top-notch, but very few of them are. We define a great challenger as having the following four qualities.1. Well-financedA challenger may not have more money than an incumbent, but a successful one needs enough to